Queensboro Bridge Railway cars

Here is a view at the 59th Street entrance to the eastbound vehicular roadway of the Bridge. The car is one of those built for the Manhattan Bridge Three Cent line for the opening of that bridge, sold to Stienway Lines or NY & Queens Couny Transit when the 3-cent line closed because of subway competition, and then overhauled in the Third Avenue's 65th and 3rd shops for service on the single remaining line of the Queens' streetcar systems when the last Steinway line closed in 1939. These cars were replaced by Osgood Bradley "Automotive" cars, very similar to Brill Masterunits, from New Bedford, in November 1947, with the former connecting track to the 59th St. Crosstown, seen in the picture, used for unloading the cars from flatbed trailers.

The sidewheeler "Priscilla"- A beautiful ship. I wonder what is it's story? Not to sidetrack the thread. But I do recall the Simon and Garfunkel song, "Feeling Groovy" also subtitiled, "The 59th Street Bridge song." I still wonder why.

The sidewheeler "Priscilla"- A beautiful ship. I wonder what is it's story? Not to sidetrack the thread. But I do recall the Simon and Garfunkel song, "Feeling Groovy" also subtitiled, "The 59th Street Bridge song." I still wonder why.

Yeah, I've wondered about that for years myself, why "Feelin' Groovy" is also called the "59th Street Bridge Song." The bridge isn't mentioned in the song at all. Maybe they were inspired to write the song after a stroll through the neighborhood, or over the bridge?

If I ever run into Paul Simon or Art Garfunkle I'll have to ask 'em.

Anyway, the bridge is now callled the "Ed Koch-Queensboro Bridge," the "Koch" added in memory of the late mayor.

I caught Paul Simon doing "Bridge Over Troubled Water" at the Democratic convention last year. Sad to watch, he doesn't have "it" anymore.

RME- I was born on Long Island in 1955, but I sure don't remember any steam boats growing up except for the Hudson River Day Line boat, the Alexander Hamilton which was advertised on TV. I wonder where that one is now. Likely scrapped, I guess.

Firelock, I got very sick of the song "Bridge Over Troubled Waters" back in the day. WABC played it to death. Thank you Cousin Brucie!

I can understand that 54Light, I (and everyone else!) got sick of "Nights In White Satin" by the Gloomy Blues when WABC played THAT one to death! Forty-plus years and I'm still sick of it!

Off-topic, I know. "Nuff said.

I got curious and looked up the "Alexander Hamilton." It was removed from service in 1971 when Circle Line purchased the Hudson River Day Line. It spent some time at the South Street Seaport, then the Brooklyn Navy Yard, and then was moved to a pier at the Naval Weapons Station in Earle, NJ. In November of 1977 it caught fire and sank in a storm. The wreck is still in Earle, but in a secure zone not open to the public. Sad end to a fine ship.

Maybe it just died of a broken heart. Some things, ships, houses, buildings, just seem to know when they're not wanted anymore.

Fascinating video! I recall on the commericals for it how they mentioned the ghost fleet at Indian Point. I always wished I could have seen those ships. In Kingston, New York there is a place called the Rondout creek, an inlet off the Hudson. There is or was a restaurant called, "Mary Ps" named after an overnight boat, the Mary Powell. It had three-abreast stacks and was abandoned in the Rondout in 1917.

It's an interesting area; it's the eastern entrance to the old D & H canal and the New York Trolley Museum is nearby. If you travel west along the creek up into the hills you will see the place used by Iron Mountain to store valuables. It's an actual iron mine converted to a secretive storage facility.

To bring this back to trolleys, does anyone know if they've hung wires at the trolley museum? There weren't any the last time I was there 25 years ago.

Seyfried was born in Ridgewood, NY on April 18, 1918 and as a child lived in Hollis. After receiving bachelor's and master's degrees in Classics from Fordham University in 1941, he was inducted into the Army in October 1941. After first being assigned for defense of the Panama Canal, in 1943 he qualified as a navigator in the Air Force. He flew 50 missions for the 15th Air Force based in southern Italy and was discharged 1945.

54, I remember the "Ghost Fleet," we could see it from the road ( I think Route 9W) going up to Bear Mountain Park, this was back in the early to mid-60's. Liberty ships and Victory ships, I don't remember how many but there were quite a few of them. A very impressinve sight.

And the "Mary Powell" was a famous Hudson River steamer, even known in Europe. You can find the story easily on-line.

RME- I was born on Long Island in 1955, but I sure don't remember any steam boats growing up except for the Hudson River Day Line boat, the Alexander Hamilton which was advertised on TV.

The Fall River Line boats were gone, abruptly, in 1937 when there was a strike and the owning company simply ceased operations. The Line's time had really come by then, though.

It may be hard to believe, but all the passenger boats they had then (the Priscilla could sleep 1500 people, and the Commonwealth was even larger) were sold for no more than $88,000 and were ignominiously scrapped -- it is possible that some of their woodwork was adaptively reused, but I know of none that was.

I grew up with "As the towers of Manhattan fade in the morning mist..." and I loved Bear Mountain as a destination -- but riding the Alexander Hamilton was one of those things, like seeing the pathetic excuse for a view from the World Trade Center deck when it was new, that got put off indefinitely as something to do later until there abruptly wasn't a later.

RME- I was born on Long Island in 1955, but I sure don't remember any steam boats growing up except for the Hudson River Day Line boat, the Alexander Hamilton which was advertised on TV. I wonder where that one is now. Likely scrapped, I guess.

Firelock, I got very sick of the song "Bridge Over Troubled Waters" back in the day. WABC played it to death. Thank you Cousin Brucie!

I remember the tracks on either side of the bridge in the 1960s. I think they just went back and forth and were the last streetcars to run in New York until the Buffalo system opened.

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There were several NY & Queens County and Steinway Lines streetcar routes that used the bridge, with the last, a Steinway line, bused in 1939. Qeensboro Bridge Railway was set up as a subsidiary one or the other of these now bus operations, because the Welfare Island Station could not accessed except by the streetcars, and dito the first stop in Queens, street name escaping me even though I walked on it. The Manhattan Terminal was an undergound three-loop station between 59th and 60th Streets on the east side of Second Avenue. A storage siding became the shop track after Third Avenue Transit closed the 65th Street and 3rd Avenue Shop and Carhouse in July 1947, where maintenance and overhaul had been performed after 1939.

The New Bedford color scheme was two-tone green, and a few of the Osgood Brandley's did wear that in service before being repainted cream and orange.

The other bridge station besides Welfare (now Roosevelt) Island was/is Vernor or Vernon Boulivard. Walked on it once on a Coney Island to Yonkers-Hastings town line streetcar-only trip to go from the Long Island City terminal for streetcars from Brooklyn up to the Queensboro Bridge trolley station elevator. In Manhattan walked from the 2nd Avenue terminal to the 65th Street carhouse to board a put-in K streetcar to ride to Marble Hill 225th and Broadway to transfer to a C car, still convertables at the time, to 262nd At. Bronx-Yonkers line, then to board a 1 to the Hastings line. The "T" had already been bused, making the Brooklyn Bridge-Park Row connection impossible. The walk proved a bit longer than expected, in perhaps in retrospect I should have used the 3rd Avenue Elevated to bridge the gap from Brooklyn Bridge.